Heather tells Consumerist that has AOL Instant Messenger installed on her smartphone, but doesn’t really use it. Lately, she’s left the program running more often, and made an alarming discovery: she was charged for 800 text messages, even though she didn’t send 800 text messages. The culprit? AIM, of course. Each IM to and from her phone was charged as a text message.

I feel like I’m reasonably savvy when it comes to my phone, but I am in a pickle where I’m getting charged for messages I had no idea were text messages.

I have AIM on my T-mobile Android phone and have used it from time to time. Once I set it up (years ago!), it opens automatically when I restart my phone. This was never a problem, I’d turn AIM off (because of the annoying messages I would get regarding chats I had already read on my computer) but with my phone battery getting less and less powerful and my phone shutting off more between charges, AIM has been on more than it’s been off.

So when I logged into my account to update my credit card info and saw that I had 800+ texts on my 400 text a month plan I was shocked! Turns out AIM messages count as text messages? There is no paid service warning when it automatically starts, the messages do not appear in my text message folder, they are separate. I had no idea!

I am on auto pay, and each month my bill is about the same amount given a little bit here and there which I don’t fret so I don’t pour over my bill to see what’s up. I also don’t get a paper bill, so it’s just an email. I had no reason to look and see that these messages have been occurring and counting towards my limit for months since I wasn’t going over my limit or if I did it was by hardly anything and I thought it was just 411 usage charges.

I have called customer service and they won’t credit me the $80, instead they want me to switch plans to cover it. I feel like if something is a paid service it should be made VERY obvious at the outset. Am I drunk here or does this just seem wrong? I’ve been with them for almost 5 years!

What do you think, Hive Mind? Does it seem logical to you that an Internet service would gobble up your text message allotment?

T-mo extends your contract when you change your plan. I know because I was fully expecting to upgrade my phone next month, but found out yesterday that my contract isn’t up until March, because I added minutes.

Surprising, since t-mo is usually more consumer friendly than other cellcos. Verizon, despite their other faults, will let you change your plan even multiple times a month without having to be concerned about your contract term changing.

The 2-year upgrade timer should be completely orthogonal to the 2-year contract extension. In other words, you qualify for a subsidized phone based on the last time you bought a subsidized phone, not based on when your contract expires.

T-Mobile allows you to block specific types of messages (instant, picture, etc) without blocking all messages. Alternatively, the OP could have deleted her AIM login info from the phone so it no longer would have been able to retrieve messages.

Even if her phone was locked down to the point where she cant remove it (with an android, thats not always the case), she most certainly can either 1) tell it to not run at start up or 2) take her login information out so it cant log in and consume messages.

Always? IMs done through Google Talk on my phone don’t count as texts. Haven’t seen my text usage go up when I use the AIM client, either. I’m pretty sure it’s all going over HTTP/HTTPS *as it should be.*

Huh, I just got an AT&T bill that suggests that I’ve send 600+ text messages in the last month (or approximately 20 a day). I average maybe four or five, so now I’m curious to find out if something similar is happening with my phone . . .

“I see your complaint about being duped into text message fees and will raise you an upsell.”

Seriously though, I doubt you’ll get your money from T-Mobile. They have you under contract, and more importantly, they have the ‘out’ in that it’s the AIM client’s design to send them via SMS instead of over your data connection.

Sucks all the way around, but the best thing you can do in the future is consider this a lesson learned and be vigilant about stuff like this.

Except that this is an app. On a smartphone. With a data connection. There is absolutely no reason to still use the antiquated and expensive sms system when there is a better, easier, and cheaper option available.

Sure there is. It’s called being in bed with mobile carriers, or just not caring. AIM, Yahoo and MSN have supported SMS for some time now, and it’s still the easiest (though not the cheapest for users) way to do that, compared to connecting with IM servers over a data connection that’s usually tenuous at best and tends to break connections to those servers in a way that the servers don’t like.

It’s actually cheaper and preserves more bandwidth to use SMS. Well, cheaper for the provider. I knew about AIM using SMS since I had a Razr, which was like 6 years ago. Can’t remember how I found out but I think it may have been in the splash screen when you first enter your login.

Yup. The problem is that this isn’t clearly stated anywhere. At least for ATT. I actually found out on Howard Forums years ago.

Best thing to do is never use the AIM or Yahoo Instant Messenger that was pre-installed by the carrier. Use third party apps instead, like Trillian. They offer a version for pretty much all the major smartphone platforms now.

Glad I have Sprint with unlimited text messages. If I were you I would remove the AIM app, pay T-mobile the high amount for one month and contact AOL. If AOL made the app, then the liability falls on AOL.

1. From what I understand, AIM was started on computers that used data (not SMS).
2. It is reasonable for a person to assume that their smartphone that uses data would use data for the AIM app (because that is what AIM uses on a PC).
3. The OP said that “There is no paid service warning when it automatically starts, the messages do not appear in my text message folder, they are separate.”

Thus, a reasonable person would assume that AIM (which uses data on a computer) would continue to be a data using app (not SMS).

Yes and no. I went from a very dumb phone to a smart phone. I had the AIM app for a while and I DID think that it was data (not SMS). Why did I think that? Because I had an icon marked “Messages” that came with the phone. That “Messages” icon = text messages.

Why should I have to assume that other things are SMS if the app doesn’t say anthing? Considering the number of apps that use data, I would say that all apps that use SMS should be clearly labbled or say “standard messaging rates apply.”

Nope, it doesn’t work like that… it’s not AOL that’s imposing the charges, it’s the service provider, she needs to talk to them. AOL provided the software as is, if that means you have to spend extra $ when you use it, that’s your problem not AOL’s.

E.g. is motorola liable for not disclosing to use that using their product might cost $? Didn’t think so.

If your logic is true, then why does American Idol say something like “Standard text message rates apply”? They do this so people know that they will be charged by their carrier.

What if I give you a program that shoots a duck at somebody’s farm every time you send a message (but I don’t tell you about the duck shooting)? Are you responsible or is the person who developed the app responsible?

This is actually pretty common for chat apps like that. 9 out of 10 chat apps that I’ve used, all the way back to the days of my Treo 650, used texting to send/receive messages. It always gave me a warning about it too, something to the effect of “Please make sure you have an adequate or unlimited text messaging plan with your service provider”.

When I had aim or any messaging apps on my phone, I used it once or twice and checked my next bill to see if it comes up as text.

I didn’t trust what I read on the internet and didn’t trust the phone company to tell me the truth.

I blame her for not trying to be more inform about her phone and plan because she is a reasonable savvy phone person.

side note: I still don’t understand how email which I get instantly counts as data but text message counts as ‘text’. I cancelled my text message on my phone and email people’s text address. Save me money and I still get use it the same way.

Is the OP certain they’re using the official AIM app? I find nothing in the app disclosure (during installation) that says anything about utilizing SMS to send messages. Under the Network Communication heading, it only requires “Full Internet access”. I read that as ‘data’, as SMS would be listed separately.

If in doubt, switch to another IM app. I can recommend eBuddy. It doesn’t use SMS, at least not for Facebook, MSN and Google Talk protocols. I can’t imagine it’s different for AIM protocol.

If the app required SMS, it must be disclosed at installation time as one of the actions/services it requires on the phone (prior to presenting the EULA). It is not listed as a requirement. All apps in the Market must do that. See my other posts – she is obviously not using the official AOL AIM app.

The EULA is using some boilerplate language, probably because their lawyers are too lazy to adapt it to a specific platform.

Delete the AIM app if you barely use it. And immediately switch to a new plan that will cover the overage and then switch back later. It’s better than paying the extra $80. I have AIM on my t-mobile phone as well and have never had this issue, but i have unlimited texting.

I have auto pay from T-Mobile and get an email reminder each month when the bill is due. However, the email does not list the amount of the bill — you must log in to your account to see that info. I just wish they’d put it in my billing email. Most of my other utilities/services work that way.

“Theres an app for that!” the main reason i never hooked up my cell phone to FB or AOL is because they tell you that it sends it as a txt msg… pretty sure they get a kickback from the wireless companies

My post was supposed to be a reply to my post further up. But my point is, the Android AIM app FROM AOL does NOT use SMS, it does not disclose it, only that it requires a data connection. The OP must be using a different app.

Also, as a test, since i installed the damn thing I just sent a few messages on it, and indeed my messaging counter on the Tmo website increments with every one I send. I have unlimited texting so it would not matter to me,

I just installed the AOL app just to check it out, when you start it up the first time you have to agree to the EULA before you can use it.

8. ACCESS. You must provide at your own expense the equipment, Internet connections and wireless devices or wireless services to access and use the Applications and the products associated with such Applications. We do not guarantee that the Applications will work with all wireless devices or wireless service plans, at all times, or in all geographic locations. When you use the Applications, you may incur certain charges from your wireless carrier according to the terms of your carrier agreement, including without limitation, standard fees for data, messaging and wireless access, SMS and MMS messaging services. Please check with your carrier to verify whether there are any such fees that may apply to you. YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY COSTS YOU INCUR TO ACCESS OR USE THE APPLICATIONS THROUGH YOUR WIRELESS DEVICE.

You acknowledge that the Applications provide features that include instant messaging, status updates of your contacts, posts, alerts, reminders, updates, instant messaging preferences, messaging communications and location. You authorize us to communicate with you regarding the Applications using SMS, MMS, text message or other electronic means to your wireless device. You acknowledge and agree that information about your usage of the Applications may be communicated to us by third parties, including without limitation your wireless carrier. You agree to receive messages from the Applications on any or all configured devices. When you access the Applications on your wireless device, we may obtain information from your wireless carrier about the type of device you are using. We may use this information to notify you concerning the types of features and products from the Applications that may be available to you on your device. Certain features of the Applications may require our collection of the phone number of your device. We may associate that phone number to the mobile device identification information; however, we will not use that number for telemarketing. Some wireless carriers in the USA and other jurisdictions may be required to operate a system that will pinpoint the physical location of devices that use their service. Depending on the provider, we may automatically receive this information and you consent to any such disclosure.

If you elect to use certain location or pinpoint based services (such as, GPS assisted navigation instruction, wireless tower location, triangulation or other available location technologies), we must periodically receive your location in order to provide such location-based services to you. By using the Applications’ location based services, you authorize us to: (a) locate your hardware; (b) record, compile and display your location; and (c) publish your location to third parties designated by you by means of location publication controls available within the Applications (e.g., settings, user preferences). As part of the Applications, we may also collect and store certain information about our users, such as, users’ wireless mobile subscriber ISDN and/or IMEI numbers (as applicable) and users’ network access identifier information. This information will be used to provide you the services accessed through the Applications. We may use third party providers to help provide services through mobile systems and such providers may use the information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Certain services offered through the Applications may allow you to adjust your privacy settings; please review any information or FAQ area that accompanies such application for more details and instructions.

Do you have data plans? I can’t fathom if you do how this is possible. AIM and other chat clients are separate software programs that use a phones data connection to send these messages…they do not go use the SMS protocol(afaik).

Unless AIM teamed up with TMobile to create an app that uses SMS when IM’s are sent received, this doesn’t seem possible…if they did do that…it’s very wrong and deceiving.

Does anyone have a IM app that really doesn’t use SMS? Or does it vary via phone/provider? I had a windows mobile smartphone on AT&T and tried fring and it charged as a text. I haven’t tried anything since I got the Droid Incredible with Verizon.

I have the Google Talk that come with my Droid and I downloaded Meebo IM for regular chatting. I just checked the permissions for both of them, and neither mention texts at all, just full internet access. This is good since I only have 500 texts a month.

It is a problem with AIM, not T-Mobile. There are several chat/IM clients that use text messages instead of data, it shouldn’t be up to T-Mobile to tell you which type of data (text vs. data) the program uses if YOU install it on your own device. I don’t like being anti-OP but Consumerist needs to start posting weekly “Pay attention to the details before purchasing/subscribing/installing” write ups to avoid this…

This is definitely not the official AIM app. AOL didn’t release the official AIM app for Android until February of this year (“I installed it years ago!) As mentioned, the official application does not require permissions for SMS, only internet access. I have had this app installed and I don’t incur SMS charges.

Obviously she’s not; back in the day ALL cell phone IM clients operated this way, so this shouldn’t be a surprise that AIM still does (especially considering it’s AIM – they’re not exactly a leader in technology).

“I have AIM on my T-mobile Android phone and have used it from time to time. Once I set it up (years ago!)… “

A little exaggerating? Android has only been out for barely two years. On the contrary, if she’s had it set up for years, how did she NOT notice AIM was using texts?

“I never look at my bill and I use auto-pay.”

So you’re doing the two things that we Consumerists tell everyone NOT to do. Why did you even bother sending in your story?

Sorry folks, I’m having a bout of ignorance intolerance today. I think I need more coffee.

Huh, interesting. I am 100% confident that neither my current nor previous phone considered AIM messaging to be texts. They are both data. However, when I am not online and someone IMs me, it forwards to my phone. Now that is a text message, no doubt about it. Messaging through an app is pure data.

No where is it mentioned that you get docked for SMS. Heck even did a test with the app that’s on my phone (Which I had to download, and did NOT come on my phone preinstalled) and my text message count did not increase.

If she’s using the T-Mobile version of the App, then she’s getting screwed because it does in fact use SMS. If she acctually downloaded the real AIM app from the Market, then she wouldn’t be having this problem.

I have an IM service on my Verizon LG enV3 and it clearly states when you download the program that it uses SMS and charges as if for texts. I also have a data plan; the two are completely separate. It would be easy to miss the warning when you download the app, I suppose, but it’s definitely there on Verizon.

It’s surprising to me that T-Mobile doesn’t seem to have a similar warning.

I only read the first few comments, im on my phone.. so if someone else already mentioned it, just ignore me.

there are different mobile social network clients. there are ones that use data instead of text. like palringo and nimbuzz. so if you have internet but not a text plan, there you go. or if you only have like a mere 5,000 text messages per month. not that many people have internet but no text that I know of, but.. whatever.

if you have no internet data plan though, I guess you should expect text messages.

T-Mobile is very good about letting you backdate a plan or add-on change to cover overage (since a higher plan is usually cheaper than paying overage rates) IF you call before your bill cycle ends.

That said, I’ve been with T-Mobile for years and I’ve always been aware that T-Mobile’s messaging bundles cover messaging – all types of messaging, whether it be text, picture, video or instant. They are very clear that an IM is considered a message: “Send a messageâ€”whether you text, IM, or send a picture message, itâ€™s quick, quiet, and easy. (Standard messaging rates may apply.)” They also specify that instant messages are chargeable at a rate of $0.20 each or can be used with a plan w/ messaging. You can also log into your account and block certain types of messages without blocking all messages. I understand how easy it would be to accidentally leave AIM on and get stuck with these charges, but TMO is being more than accommodating my offering to switch the OP to a higher plan (that the OP could remove the next month) which would be cheaper than paying overage rates. T-Mobile is straightforward about what constitutes a message and they don’t exactly hide this information in the fine print – it’s clearly posted online.

This seems odd to me… whenever you install an android app, it warns you what the application will be ‘allowed’ to do… and I just checked, and the official AOL AIM app does NOT have SMS permissions, just ‘internet access’ permissions… it shouldn’t be ABLE to send things as a text message…

I thought it was pretty common knowledge (amongst savvy cellphone users, that is) that AIM counts as SMS/text. I found this back when I was with T-Mobile and that was about 4-5 years ago.

Don’t know if T-Mobile will be willing to refund the $80. What the OP could have done (if she had checked her bill before the closing date) is changed her text plan to an unlimited plan (assuming T-Mobile has one? They did when I was with them). She can then change back to a lower plan the following month. This would not extend her contract (since it’s just an “add on”, not the voice plan that she is trying to change).

you have it set to fwd the messages form ur aim if u shut it off on ur comp. ovbously its not on, on ur device or they would go to ur go to ur device via data. not via text from aim fwding. thats what its doing, ur aim fwding is on. turn it off!!! take ur number out of aims system and it will nto fwd messages to ur cell, they will go over the data to ur phone on the aim APP. is it that hard? oh and its 2010, get unlimited texting already!

Am I the only one missing the real point here?? People are still using AIM? Did an update somewhere along the way allow you to chat with people in 1997?

Seriously though, Google Talk or a third party app if you’re that in to “Instant Messaging” and want to avoid the SMS charge. But if you’re that in to “Instant Messaging”, you could also just get a plan that has unlimited SMS built in, since you know, those get to you pretty instantly. On T-Mo unlimited texts are built in to the “all you can eat” $79 plan.

It’s almost 3 AM here (so my memory may be a bit spotty) and my phone is not next to me, but I seem to recall something about SMS popping up when I installed the AIM app. I think there’s an option to utilize IMs on your phone as SMS, instead of as IMs. Don’t quote me on that, I installed the app a few months ago, but I vaguely remember that message popping up.

I also think it depends on the phone service you have. Take a good look at the TOS regarding the AIM app to make sure you didn’t gloss something over.

I don’t know if the plans are still the same, but with T-Mobile the android data plan they require you to have with an android phone is $30 a month. Data+Unlimited texting was $35 a month. That’s the plan I am on, but the may have changed it by now, either way, that would have been the way it worked when she got her phone. I dunno what she is paying for her 400 texts a month, but I would have just paid the damn $5 for unlimited texts to.

this happened to me when i got my first phone. And what the little bastard did was it would crash while singing off, but still the messages were forwarded to my phone, but the phone saw none of it. I think that month i racked up 4500 texts on a 200 text plan.

ATT – The Captivate, the latest and greatest Android phone they currently have (Also known as the Galaxy S by Samsung), has a crapton of preinstalled ATT crap, ATT Radio, ATT TV, bunch of other things, they are all pay for services, none of them are free. Yes, their are market alternatives that are much easier to use and free, but thats not what ATT is trying to do, they are trying to trick people into using revenue generating services.

Lets look at Verizon (I have not used them in years and years, so this may not be valid anymore). They used to gimp all their phones (research the old Samsung SGH-700 I think was the model, disabled bluetooth except for headset.. like the iphone…), so that you had to use their revenue generating services to get things like photos and videos off the phone, they completely disabled the ability to transfer the data via usb or bluetooth..

Sprint did the same for a long time.

Assume anything the carrier has preinstalled on your device, as something that will cost you, its not done by accident, and they try really hard to bury the costs in fine print so people do not notice it…

That’s ridiculous, that should definitely be data. I can understand if it was a dumbphone, it might use texts instead of data, but on andorid, it should definitely be data and there’s no reason T-Mobile should even know how many messages were sent through any app.

did you know that when you download an android program it tells you all the services it accesses? It even has a separate section from privacy concerns where it warns you what services that may cost you money to use. I am sorry I have no sympathy for your choice to not read warnings provided to you,

My AIM/Yahoo/MSN application running on my enV Touch when you initially start it for the first time CLEARLY suggests that you subscribe to a text messaging bundle if you intend on using the service since it uses the text messaging services. So, I’m pretty sure that any other phone would have that warning as well.

I had this problem way back in the day when I got my first phone and discovered the magic of mobile IM. Turned out it was just magically sucking money out of my parent’s wallet.

These days, it depends on which phone you’re using, but I know if it’s not a smartphone with a data plan, all those IM messages are charged just like texts. If you can live without geting AIM on your phone, remove the AIM mobile option (you can probably do this at aol.com or via an official AIM app on your computer) ASAP. If they don’t have your number anymore, they can’t text and charge you.

I bought a verizon prepaid phone that charges me per day used and per call, including text messages. I soon found myself getting 4-5 text messages per day from spammers selling auto warranties and such. I went to the local verizon office and was told the only way to stop it was to block all texting. I did this and was fine until my contract expired, and verizon sent me a text message to warn me. hmmm.

I’m a little confused by this post. Laura’s quote says, “Heather tells Consumerist that has AOL Instant Messenger installed on her smartphone, but doesn’t really use it.” But apparently she DOES use it. Also, how long had Heather been using AIM? She just now figured out she’s being charged for texts? Not to blame the OP, but I’m just confused about some of the wording here and exactly what was going on.

As I recall from my T-Mobile Android phone days, the minute you start up this app for the first time, it TELLS you that it’s going to use text messages in place of AIM messages (it’s just a shitty T-Mobile app, that’s all). Now, if this person is like most (hell, nearly all) users, they just went ahead and clicked “OK” on this warning without even reading it… which explains the situation.